14 DAY TRIAL // The first Release Candidate bits of Windows Server AppFabric are now available for download and testing, having been released on May 20, 2010. According to Microsoft, early adopters won’t get that much time to play around with the Windows Server AppFabric RC, as the company is gearing up to release the product to manufacturing the next month. Up to this point in time, the software giant did not disclose the general availability deadline for Windows Server AppFabric RTM, but, with the launch of the RC, it did stress the intimate connection the offering shared with the upcoming BizTalk Server 2010.
“During the Application Infrastructure virtual launch event, Microsoft is officially launching Windows Server AppFabric, with the immediate availability of the Windows Server AppFabric Release Candidate (RC); the final release of the product will be available in June. Microsoft is encouraging Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (Standard and Enterprise edition) customers to download the RC and get ready for the final release,” a member of the Windows Server team revealed.
Testers can also grab BizTalk Server 2010 Beta, which was offered concomitantly with Windows Server AppFabric RC. Microsoft is essentially encouraging customers to start test-driving the integration between BizTalk Server 2010 and Windows Server AppFabric as the two products are still in development. “Combining the rich capabilities of BizTalk Server integration and the flexible development experience of .NET to allow customers to easily develop and manage composite applications,” the Windows Server team member added.
In fact, BizTalk Server 2010 and Windows Server AppFabric along with Windows Azure AppFabric are designed to be leveraged in concert as the Microsoft application infrastructure technologies. “These offerings benefit you by delivering cloud-like elasticity, seamless connectivity, and simplified composition for the most demanding, enterprise applications,” a representative of the BizTalk Server team explained.
Windows Server AppFabric Beta 2 Refresh is available for download here.
BizTalk Server 2010 Beta is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Premium is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Professional is available for download here.
Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate is available for download here.
Visual Studio Test Professional 2010 is available for download here.
.NET Framework 4 RTM is available for download here.